Mostly Awesome

Hamza Tahir is a software developer turned ML engineer. An indie hacker by heart, he loves ideating, implementing, and launching data-driven products. His previous projects include PicHance, Scrilys, BudgetML, and you-tldr. Based on his learnings from deploying ML in production for predictive maintenance use-cases in his previous startup, he co-created ZenML, an open-source MLOps framework for creating production grade ML pipelines on any infrastructure stack.

In this podcast, we dive into Hamza's initial projects, how he got into entrepreneurship, as well as his struggles with balancing his entrepreneurial career and personal responsibilities. We also talk about his outlook on the AI space, limits to current model architectures, existential risks, and much more. We hope you enjoy the episode!

We just released a brand new episode of our podcast featuring an in-depth conversation with the co-founder and chief product officer of Tanso, Gyri Reiersen, a groundbreaking company revolutionizing carbon accounting and emission reduction processes.

Join us as we delve into the world of sustainability and technology, exploring how Tanso automates processes in carbon accounting while building the analytical basis for effective emission reduction. Discover their innovative solutions that are helping organizations make a tangible impact on climate change.

Tune in to this enlightening episode to learn more about Tanso's mission, their success stories, and the future of carbon accounting and emission reduction. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a climate enthusiast, or simply curious about the intersection of technology and sustainability, this conversation is a must-listen!

Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to gain insights from a visionary leader in the field. Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to us and let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Together, let's create a greener, more sustainable future!

Welcome to the new season of the Mostly Awesome podcast!

Our first episode will drop on May 10, but before that we wanted to give you all a sneak preview of what season 5 is all about. Over this season, we will be chatting with different changemakers and innovators – we can’t wait for you to hear! We’re also stoked to have Ruby Zhang, Claudia Dalmau, and Ali Raza as our fearless hosts.

When you think about trees, what comes to mind? In most of our heads, they are probably the prime example of “something good for the environment”. Even though it is by far not the only way to capture carbon, there is an increasing trend to quantify and enhance the environmental benefit of sustainable forestry. We are happy to have Gesa Biermann as our guest today. Gesa is a Co-Founder of Pina, a startup that quantifies and rewards sustainable forestry. 

Before founding Pina she was a Center Assistant at CDTM, did her Ph.D. in the area of sustainable food consumption, and co-founded the Munich Branch of 180 Degrees Consulting.

Over the course of the episode, we will dive deeper into Gesa's journey in the field of sustainability and social impact. We will hear how the CDTM shaped her and also how both the idea and founding team for Pina were impacted by the Center. Finally, we will deep dive into Gesa's view on the future of sustainability and the voluntary carbon market.

As always, we end the episode by getting insights into Gesa's personal toolbox.

Today we welcome Johannes Hussak in our podcast, one of the co-founders of Kertos, a platform that automates data privacy operations.

Always fascinated by technology, Johannes did his bachelor and master at Technical University of Munich in Energy and Process Technology and went to an abroad semester at Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai.

It was during his studies when one of his friends drew Johannes attention to Manage and More - an entrepreneurship scholarship by UnternehmerTUM in Munich. At Manage and more Johannes discovered his passion to build products and teams around them.

Together with Kilian Schmidt on the legal side and Alexander Prams on the tech side, he found a perfect team match for Kertos.

Over the course of the episode, we speak to Johannes about his experience of founding a company in the middle of the pandemic, the story of how the Kertos founding team came to be, Johannes's take on the future of the compliance industry, and his personal advise on maintaining work-life balance.

As always, at the end of episode, you will hear Johannes's prompt answers and recommendations to our toolbox.

This week we are excited to welcome Eva Spannagl, head of Strategy & Business Development at Moss, founder of Femstory, business angel, and personal inspiration to both of us.

Eva studied at ESCP Business school and the Universidad Carlos tercero de Madrid. She held a variety of internships during her studies and ultimately joined McKinsey full time when she graduated from her masters.

During that time, Eva founded Femstory, a nonprofit focused on connecting women to professional mentors. For the past 2 years, Femstory has empowered a variety of women to make impactful career moves. I'm personally happy to be part of the last Femstory batch and am already getting a lot of insights from my mentor and the network.

After spending 3 years with McKinsey Eva joined Moss, a fintech startup focused on smart corporate credit cards, digital invoice management, and automated accounting.

Over the course of the episode, we speak to Eva about her early career trajectory, her experience at Moss, her experience with founding Femstory and angel investing, and finally, we ask her about work-life balance & managing multiple projects without burnout. Needless to say, Eva is a pro – the following episode is full of game-changing career and time management tips.

As always, to finish out the podcast, we are also thrilled to add Eva's personal toolbox to our resources for the innovators of tomorrow.

How do you found a VC firm, really? Today we will talk to Claudius Jablonka, a former CDTM Centerling and Center assistant who co-founded 10x Founders.

Claudius co-founded and led the Munich office of Plug and Play Ventures, one of the most active early-stage investors in the world. In 2020, he and 6 other partners co-founded 10x founders, now a €160m early-stage fund which is backed also by CDTM alumni.

Over the course of the episode, we speak to Claudius about his academic and professional background, the experience of founding 10x, Claudius' take on diversity in VC, and some tips on maintaining work-life balance.

Some people say the entrepreneurial spirit is something you are born with. This is something that could be true for our guest in today’s episode, Vanessa Westphal. As a very young child she already started selling stones in front of her house to top up pocket money. And she kept the entrepreneurial spirit ever since.

Having spent more than 10 years building a corporate career at Siemens, last year Vanessa founded Choosy, which offers AI-optimized nutrition plans that suit both your taste and your health. Choosy aims not only to improve our individual nutrition habits, but also to make planetary health available to everyone.

Over the course of the episode we will dive deeper into Vanessas journey. We will learn what she took from her experience of being an innovation driver within corporate Siemens and what made her switch to entrepreneurship again. Furthermore, we learn about her founding experience with Choosy and what her expert view on the importance of health and nutrition is.